Rose Valley scam: Odisha HC grants bail to TMC MP Tapas Paul

Cuttack: In a huge sigh of relief for Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Tapas Paul, who was arrested by the CBI for his alleged involvement in the Rose Valley Group chit fund scam, the Orissa High Court today granted him conditional bail.

The bail has been granted on the condition of two sureties of Rs 2 lakh each and a bank deposit of Rs one crore.

The High Court has also asked him to submit his passport in police station and cooperate with investigating officers in the investigation process.

The Bengali cine star was arrested by the agency in Kolkata on December 30, 2016 after being questioned.

Paul used to promote the group for which he was paid both in cash and kind. He failed to give satisfactory explanations about his financial transactions with the group following which he was arrested, a CBI official had said.

Having cast its net across the states of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand and Maharashtra among others, Rose Valley Group is alleged to have illegally raised several thousand crore of rupees from the public.

In a chargesheet submitted at the Special CJM court in Bhubaneswar, the CBI had charged the Ponzi firm of defrauding depositors of Rs 17,000 crore, out of which Rs 450 crore is from Odisha alone. The company was active in Odisha with 28 branches.